Dispensing device



W. P. ROBERTSON.

DISPENSING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-28,1917.

1,15%, Patented 0012. 21,1919.

, OFFICE.

WILLIAM P. ROBERTSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGN'OR TO THE CALOREX.CORPORA 'IION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A. COMORATION OF NEW YORK.

DISPENSING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 21, 1919.,

Application filed February 28. 1917. Serial No. 151.477.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM P. ROBERT- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of the city of New York, in 'the Stateof New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in DispensingDevices, of which the following is a full description.

This invention relates to improvements in dispensing devices of the typeadapted to dispense a measured quantity of dry material such as flour,malted milk, sugar, spices, etc, and the objects of the invention .areto provide a simple and effective device of this character, in which ameasured quantity of the material may be dispensed by the movement of asimple lever, and in which all the parts of the device will cooperatetogether to effectively perform the functions required of them.

The invention comprises the improved construction hereinafter describedin detail in the following specification and the accompanying'drawing,showing an embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device with certain portions cutaway, and shown in section to better illustrate the various workingparts of the device.

Fig. 2 is a front elevationof the device, the front casing being removedto show the working parts.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged truncated view of the means for regulating theamount of material to be dispensed, and showing the disposition of thespring operating the spring operated elements or parts.

Fig. 4 is a smaller view of the regulating means, viewed on the oppositeside of the casing to Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the agitating; means placed in the lowersections of the hopper or container and engaging the screw oonveyer.

Like characters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

In Figs. 1 and 2, 1 represents the container for holding the material tobe dis-- pensed, with a removable top. 2 represents the inner lOWerwalls of the container converged to form an entrance into the tubularoutwardly extending compartment 3, which tubular compartment has adischarge spout or outlet 4E.

as to receive other connecting elements hereinafter described.

The lower outer walls of the container 1 are flared or widened, in thesides parallel to the extension of compartment 3, as shown by dottedlines 5, 5 Fig. 2, to form a flat base that rests in the metalsupporting plate 6, which latter has an under projecting plug orextension that fits into a socket in the upright or stanchion 7, beingheld securely thereto by the clamp screw 9.

The upright 7 is attached to a suitable base 8. The supporting plate,upright and base-plate may, of course, be made in one piece if desiredwhile, with the construction as shown, the supporting plate may beattached to other means than shown for holding the device in secureoperative position.

Placed within the compartment 3 is a screw spiral or worm conveyor 10,which may be freely revolved therein. The conveyer is supported withinthe compartmentcircular metal disk 12, attached to a plate 13,.

which latter is firmly attached by suitable means to the back face ofthe supporting plate 6.

Both ends of the screw conveyor terminate in circular disks, numberedrespectively 14: and 15, which prevent the material conveyed from thecontainer from passing to the bearings ofthe shaft 11.

Attached to the front of compartment- 3 is a metal casing 16, a circularmetal disk 17 extends from the side of this casing and fits within theinner circumference of the front opening of compartment 3.

Attached to the casing 16 and extending back in both sides ofcompartment 3 are members 18 and 18. One being shown clearly in Fig. 1and the other 18 by dotted lines in Fig. 2. These mem' ers rest upon theupper surface of the supporting plate 6 and are attached thereto bysuitable screws, as shown. 7

It will thus be seen that the casing 16, with attached circular disk 17through which the front end of the shaft 11 passes, are thus securelyattached to the various other elements of the device before described.

To the front end of the shaft 11 is attached a small gear 19, whichmeshes with an internal toothed gear 20. On the opposite side of thegear 20, and forming a part thereof, is attached a ratchet 21. The gear20 and the attached ratchet 21 revolve loosely upon a shaft 22, whichlatter is firmly attached to the backplate of the easing 16. A

Revolving loosely about the shaft 22 is a small gear 23 having a hub 24,to which is firmly attached, in the side next to the ratchet 21, an armor projection 25, to which latter is pivoted a pawl 26, by means of apin 26.

The pawl 26 isso set that it engages the teeth of the ratchet 21, whenthe arm 25 and the hub and gear to which it'is made a part, are movedfrom left to right, the pawl 26 being held in position to engage theteeth of the ratchet 21, bymeans of small sections of spring wireattached to the upper bend of the pawl, the detached end of said wireabutting against one side of the arm 25.

It will thus be seen that when the gear 23 is moved from right to leftthe pawl 26 slides over the teeth of the ratchet and does not take hold.

Firmly secured to a boss 27 attached to the back wall of the casing 16(Fig. 2 and Fig. 3), and to the left side wall of said casing, as viewedin Fig. 2, is a shaft 28 in which pivots a supporting member 29 for thepart circular rack 30, the teeth of which engage the gear 23. This isshown plainly in Fig. 2, and part of the rack supporting members in Fig.3, but this part of the device has' been cut away by sectioning in Fig.1.

The rack supporting member 29 is made up of several parts, which will bemade clear by reference to Figs. 2 and 3. Attached to a hub 31, whichrevolves .upon the shaft 28 'is an upper arm 32 and a.lower arm 33.

These arms are attached to the rack 30 in the hub side of the gear 23,therefore when the rack 30 is in the upper position, as shown in Fig. 2,it is evident that the lower arm 33 engages the lower face of the hub24, and when the rack is in the lower position, the arm 32 engages theupper face of the hub 24.

Thus the rack can be moved up and down within the limit of the spread ofthe arms 32 and 33.

The supporting member as it extends beyond the rack is formed with acurved edge as shown in Fig. 2, and is farther extended outward to forma handle piece 34, to which is attached a handle 35, supported by a pin36. Attached to the arm 32 and passing around the shaft 28 is a springelement 37 which is firmly attached at its lower end, by suitable means,to the side walls of the casing 16, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

This spring keeps the rack 30 in its normal upward position which isfixed by the lower arm 33 engaging with the lower face 'of the hub 24.

It will be. evident that if the upward movement of. the rack 30, throughthe tension of the spring 37, can be stopped at predetermined points,the effective range'of the rack 30 in revolving gear 23 can be varied. Iaccomplish this by the following means:

Attached to the hub 31, Fig. 3, are two projecting lugs, numberedrespectively 38 and 39. Fitted on top of the boss 27 and engaging theinner side wall of the casing, is a slide piece 40. This slide piece isheld in position with respect to the boss and casing wall by means of asmall plate 41 on the opposite side of the casing wall from the sidepiece, by means of a screw passing through the plate 41, through anarrow slot 42 in the casing and thence into the side piece 40, as shownin Figs. 3 and 4.

By means of the screw head 43, the side piece 40 may be clamped and heldfirmly in various positions in the upper face of the boss 27 or hub 31,these positions being indicated by points marked in the face of thecasing, as shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that by moving the side piece 40 asuflicient distance to the left, on the hub 31, it will engage with thelug 39 on the up motion of the rack 30, and this position will be shownby the indicating point, marked two, in the casing.

Fig. 3, by moving the side piece 40, still farther to the left, lug 38will be engaged, on the up motion of rack 30, and this position will beshown by the indicating point, marked one, in the casing, Fig. 4.

I have provided means for opening and closing the discharge spout 4, inFig. 1, upon the down stroke of the handle 35. A gate 44 fits over themouth of the spout 4, when inv closed position, this gate is providedwith a rounded neck 45, through which a pin 46 passes, and is supportedby the proper bearings attached to the lower inner face of the casing16. Thus, when the neck 45 is relieved of pressure, the gate 44 willassume by gravitya normal vertical position, and the discharge spoutwill be open.

To place the gate 44 in closed position, pressure must be applied to thetop of the curved neck 45. I provide for this purpose an L-shapedmember, one arm of which 47, rests on the top of the curved neck 45, arm47 is attached to a short shaft 48, this shaft is supported by andpivots in a bearing 49, attached to the inner side wall of the casing16. (See Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.) The Attached also to the shaft 48 is avertically disposed arm 51, the upper end of which is provided withmeans for engaging the outer curved face of 29 when the rack 30 is moved(downward by means of the handle 35.

Spring 37 is extended over as 52 to 'rest on top of the arm 47, whichthus depresses the neck 45 and closes the gate 44.

The mechanism contained within the casing 16 is fully incased and heldin position by the front casing 50, which fits about the casing 16. Theshaft 22 in passing through the front casing 50 is threaded to receivethe tightening screw head 53.

A slot is provided in the casing, through which the handle 34 passes, ofsufficient length to permit free action of therack 30.

In handling material, such as malted milk, which easily packs, and has atendency to cake or cling, means for agitating the material contained inthe discharge end of the container 1, are provided and in the form of arod 54, Fig. 5, to each end of which is firmly attached a strongresilient wire, respectively 55 and 56, the ends of which are bentupward and outward, to take the slope and to rest against the innerwalls of the discharge end of the container 1, as shown in Fig. 1.

Attached to the rod 54 and spaced between the wire supports 55 and 56are wires formed in the manner as shown in Fig. 5. Attached to the rod54, midway between the supporting wires 55 and 56, is firmly attached abar of'resilient metal 57 which is of sufficient length to be engaged bythe screw conveyer 10. When the conveyer 1 0 is operated, the bar 57 issprung in the direction of the motion of the conveyer until it slidesofi one face of the conveyer to have the action re peated by the nextface.

The wires attached to the rod 54 being of a springy nature are thus keptin vibration and thus assist in keeping all material in motion towardthe conveyer when the conveyer is rotating.

. The operation of the device will be as follows:

A receptacle to receive the dispensed material having been placed underthe discharge spout 4, the handle 35 is depressed, which thus depressesthe rack 30, and as the rack 30 meshes with the gear 23, this gear willbe rotated from left to right, through the action of the pawl 26, inratchet 21, thus the small gear 19 meshing with the internal teeth ofthe gear 20 will be caused to rotate from left to right and at a speedgreater than the gear 20, as the circumference of the gear 20 is largerthan that of the gear 19.

As the gear 19 is attached to the shaft 11 of the screw conveyer 10, thelatter will be rotated from left to right and will therefore, as it hasa right hand pitch, convey toward the discharge spout 4, and dischargetherein or therethrough, the material that discharges into compartment 3from the container 1.

In depressing the rack 30 by means of the handle 35; after the rack hasmoved approximately one-half its full distance downward, the outer edgeof the supporting member 29 engages with the arm 51 causing this arm tomove a suiiicient distance to the right to lift the arm 47, this liftingthe spring 52, which releases the pressure upon the neck 45 causing thegate 44 to drop open by gravity.

It will be evident that on depressing the supporting members of the rack30, that the spring 37 will be placed under tension, therefore, uponreleasing the handle 35, the rack 30 resumes its normal (orpredetermined) upward position, the pawl 26 slides over the teeth of theratchet 21, and no motion therefore is imparted to the gear 20, gear 19or to the conveyer 10, furthermore the arm 51 resumes its normal uprightposition through the tension of the spring 52 acting upon the arm 46which depresses the neck 45 and thus closes the gate 44.

To provide a free flow of material from the container into the conveyercompartment, agitating means, operated by the motion of the conveyer,are placed in the lower section of the container, an effective form' ofsuch means, thoughl do not confine myself to this form, is shown in Fig.1 and Fig. 5. As the conveyer 10 rotates, it alternately flexes andreleases the resilient or springy arm or bar 57, which imparts to thewires attached to the rod or bar 54 (Fig. 5), vibrating motion, whichmotion is imparted to the material in the container, keeps such materialloosened up, and thus assists its ready flow into the conveyer orcompartment.

It will be evident from the foregoing de-' 'scription that the amount ofmaterial discharged upon each full downward stroke of the handle 35 willdepend upon the diameter and throw (or pitch of the screws) of theconveyer and the number of revolutions imparted thereto.

The number of revolutions of the conveyer will therefore be limited bythe length of the rack 30, acting through the chain of gears as shownand described.

The maximum action of the rack will give the maximum discharge throughthe spout 4, and furthermore the amount discharged at each fulloperation of the rack will be approximately the same.

If the effective action of the rack be therefore shortened, a lessamount will be discharged at each operation. I have therefore, providedmeans for simply and quickly varying the efiective action of the rack 30by arresting its upward movement at predetermined points, these pointsbeing the starting points for the downward and effective action of therack.

The means thus employed are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, in which the lug 39is so placed in the hub 31, that when the slide piece 40 is moved inposition to engage this lug, the rack can only move upward twothirds ofits maximum movement; upon being depressed, therefore, the effectiveaction in the conveyer, through the gears, will only be two-thirds ofthe maximum, and the amount of material discharged will only betwo-thirds of the maximum.

By sliding the slide piece 40 a farther dis- .tance along the hub 31,the lug 38 may be engaged, and this lug is placed in such a position onthe hub 31 as will cut off a further one-third effective range of therack 30, and one-third of the discharge, as explained above withreference to lug 39.

The degree of regulation is shown in a dial or scale, located in thecasing, as shown in Fig. 4. Any degree of regulation can be provideddepending upon the number, and proper positioning of lugs placed on thehub 31, and the regulation can best be effected when the rack 30 is inits full downward position.

The gate is always closed inall three regulations shown and only opensin the last effective third of the rack.

As many changes could be made in the above description and manyapparently widely different embodiments of my invention within the scopeof the claims constructed, without departing from the spirit or scopethereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanyingspecification and drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and notin a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a dispenser and in combination, a container adapted to contain thematerial to be dispensed, a feeding worm adapted to feed material fromthe container, an agitat ing member in ,the container including a springarm adapted to be engaged and moved by the worm, said arm being adaptedto spring over the edge of the worm.

2. A dispenser having in combination a container for the material to bedispensed, a screw conveyer adapted to discharge material from thecontainer, an agitating member within the container comprising elementsof spring wire that may be set in vibration and a projecting spring armattached thereto and adapted to loosely engage the screw conveyer and beset in vibration thereby when the screw conveyer is rotated.

3. In a dispenser, the combination with a screw conveyer of vibratoryagitating means, adapted to be'engaged and set in vibration by thescrew.

4. In' a dispenser, the combination with a screw conveyer of vibratoryagitating means loosely engaging the screw and adapted to be set invibration by the same when turned.

5. In a dispenser, the combination with a screw conveyer of an agitatingdevice with spring wires having portion thereof extending into the screwconveyer and adapted to be engaged and set in Vibration thereby.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

WILLIAM P. ROBERTSON.

Witnesses:

JOHN J. RYAN, PATRICK J. OHAGAN.

